Dorothy Elizabeth Alexander, beloved mother of three, grandmother of eight, and great-grandmother of six, died on June 2 after a brief illness at the Henrietta Brewer House in Vineyard Haven, surrounded by her children. Dorothy was predeceased by her husband, Paul F. Alexander, in 2006 after more than 62 years of marriage.
Dorothy was born a coal miner’s daughter in Burgettstown, Pa., in 1920. Her father, Oliver Breen, was killed in a coal-mining accident when she was just 3 years old. Dorothy, her mother Ellen Breen, and her little sister Virginia then moved back to Needham, the hometown of her mother’s family.
Dorothy and her high school sweetheart, Paul, both graduated from Needham High School in 1938. In 1941, when both of them were 21 years old, the attack on Pearl Harbor took place, and Paul was on his way to war shortly thereafter. They were married in St. Joseph’s Parish, Needham, when Paul returned to shore in December 1943.
After the war the Alexanders raised their family, daughter Gail and sons Frederick and Mark. Paul worked for New England Telephone as an engineer, and eventually created and ran a family business that included a telephone answering service, apartment buildings, and other interests.
Through it all, Dorothy used every opportunity she had to involve herself in musical endeavors. In the early 1960s Dorothy belonged to a women’s chorus group, the Sweet Adelines, in Needham, and she loved to participate in the local community theater group. In 1977, after their youngest son was married, the Alexanders sold their Needham home and lived full-time in their Cape home on Nye’s Neck in North Falmouth. Dorothy sang in the parish choir of St. Elizabeth Seton Church in North Falmouth for over 30 years.
Dorothy will be deeply missed by all the friends she made in Needham, her choir group in North Falmouth, her exercise group, the wonderful people at the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living where at the age of 95, Dorothy could still sing a song in tune and cut a mean dance step, and her friends at the Henrietta Brewer House, along with her loving family.
Dorothy’s funeral Mass will be held at Saint Elizabeth Seton Parish in North Falmouth at 10:30 am on Thursday, June 9. Visiting hours from 9 to 10 am will be held in the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home, Route 28A, West Falmouth, before the Mass.
